Kristian Garic

Kristian's Wed. practice recap: Saints polish up, Vilma not on field

by Kristian Garic,posted Aug 14 2013 11:36AM

Pads popping: We saw a little bit of live goal line today, which we didn't think we'd see. For the most part, the offense got the better of the defense. It's good to see Pierre Thomas back out here today participating in team drills. Now, it's just about getting ready for the Oakland Raiders.

Where's Vilma? OLB Jon Vilma was not out on the field at all. Usually, if a player is rested, they're still out on the field, but Vilma wasn't anywhere to be seen. Kind of peculiar, but when we asked Coach about it after practice, he said, didn't offer any info about Vilma's status.

Injuries: It's pretty much been the same. Martez Wilson was back out, but not participating in the full team portion of practice. As I mentioned above, PT was back in team drills. They're getting healthier, that's the good thing. They haven't sustained any significant injuries since the WR Joe Morgan and DE Kenyon Coleman injuries.

Standouts: As far as who stood out, on the D, you can see where guys like DE’s Glenn Foster and Tyrunn Walker are climbing up the depth charts pretty quickly.

Drew: Drew ran the scout team, which was different to see. They were just running Raiders plays, that zone-read option, so don’t expect that you're going to see him run that…that was just to get them ready for the Raiders and give them a good look.

Looking ahead: Tomorrow's indoor practice is essentially a walk-through, getting their i's dotted and their t's crossed. Friday, I'm looking forward to seeing how the special teams do this Friday, and whether the defense can get off the field on third down, and what kind of tempo the offense can work with.